The growth in streaming entertainment events on platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon as well as live streaming capabilities on commonly available platforms has exploded. It’s a phenomenon that’s even more dramatic around the world, particularly with sporting events. When South Korea won a narrow victory at the Asian Cup Games in the UAE this year, millions of Korean soccer enthusiasts couldn’t watch a live broadcast on any of the country’s three major media giants. Sport streaming or esports has grown in America and around the world more fans than ever, especially young fans, demand and are willing to pay for events they can’t view on broadcast TV when and where they want to view it. 

Technology innovations have increased this trend. With the advent of smart TVs and other technology, these events can now be viewed on the highest resolution, large screens, on mobile devices with better screens, and of course, computers–anywhere at anytime. This has put a bind on the network and cable broadcasters networks. Young people, in particular, are embracing streaming and esports with services such as mtpolice(토토 총판). 

Live streaming capabilities on a variety of readily available platforms offer viewer choice and marketing potential.  Social live-streaming platforms that got their start enabling people to video blog or watch video gaming as a shared experience are expanding to all sorts of live broadcasting, including sports. Twitch averaged 1 million viewers at any given point of time on any given day, and there were 3.5 billion broadcasts over Facebook Live in the first two years following its launch. 

Demographic shifts in viewing habits. Almost one-third (29%) of Americans say they watch more streaming TV than traditional TV. Among those age 18-29 it’s 54% with 29% having completely cut the cord on cable TV.  Millenials want to watch shows on their own time using any device, and they get more bang for their buck from a couple $8-40 per month subscriptions than a $100 per month cable bill. 

Niche sports leagues have grown with sports streaming capabilities. The rapid growth of video streaming services like Hulu and Netflix and live social media streams on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitch has enabled growth of niche sports leagues that you won’t normally see on TV. In the streaming era, a plethora of niche sports are finding a leg in the market with exponential growth potential–viewers while interest in traditional pro leagues like the NFL and MLB are actually declining.

The entertainment value is increasing. Streaming broadcasters are offering programming that is often more entertaining for viewers with broadcasters who wear outlandish costumes, offer stand comedy level laughs, often swear, and use other entertainment devices that make a three hour game more entertaining. The old style ESPN broadcasts have become boring to many young viewers. 

Smaller, start-up streamers are making headway, too. Infrastructure and financing are still significant barriers for local streaming services who can’t afford to purchase exclusive broadcasting rights for the largest events, but hyper-fast internet speeds, technological breakthroughs, and niche sporting markets are bringing changes.

The growth provides marketing opportunities, too. Sports streaming will grow simply because the marketing implications for growth are so great.  Paul Verna, principal analyst at eMarketer, explains: “Marketers who try to reach esports fans through video ads will be able to tap into the sophisticated targeting and measurement capabilities that streaming services offer. In that sense, there’s more value to a marketer in attaching itself to game streams than sponsoring an event or team. It’s all about harnessing data.” And there’s plenty of data to harness. The growth in sports streaming is a worldwide phenomenon. 
Major pro sporting events are the last bastion of TV networks. Beyond the dominant sports, the only content getting large audiences on network TV to tune in live are Hollywood awards shows and major  premieres or finales of a few hit shows. In other words, the networks will guard the rights to these events, but the walls are crumbling. If you can’t get the event you want on network TV, there are still other hobbies to the past the time until streaming conquers the sports market, too.